The following commentary on Debra Gindorf appeared on December 23 in Eric Zorn’s blog on the Chicago Tribune online edition:
"Gutlessness leaves governor open to scorn
When people ask me why I have such a cranky attitude about Gov. Rod Blagojevich, I’m happy to tell them the story of Debra Gindorf.
Gindorf had a hearing in front of the Illinois Prisoner Review Board in early 2003. The board was clearly sympathetic to her lawyers’ contention that she was in the grips of post-partum psychosis in 1985 when she killed her 3-month-old baby and 23-month-old toddler before trying to kill herself and that she was sentenced to life in prison before this condition was properly understood.
Not even the Lake County state’s attorney’s office, which prosecuted Gindorf, objected to her release.That was more than 1,700 days ago. Gindorf, 43, is still at Dwight Correctional Center with a bum heart and a broken spirit, according to her assistant state appellate defender Kathleen Hamill.
Not only has Blagojevich not had the guts to release this poor woman and explain to skeptics why it’s the right and compassionate thing to do, he hasn’t even had the guts NOT to release her — to deny her petition for commutation.
Instead, it sits somewhere in the stack of 1,445 other pending parole and pardon requests on the desk of our state’s invertebrate hockey-fan-in-chief.
Remember that next time you hear him preen about women’s health issues, about his courage and about how other lawmakers need to buckle down and get to work."
Thank you, Eric Zorn.
